Pimientos del Piquillo Rellenos de Atún a la Navarra

Pimientos del piquillo rellenos de atún are Navarrese before they are anything else, because the pepper is the point: small, red, roasted piquillos from Lodosa, sweet with a little smoke and just enough strength to hold a filling. This version is the thrifty one, bonito del norte, hard-boiled egg, and tomato. Nothing grand. Good pantry food, made properly.

The method that decides it is the tomato. Cook the onion low in olive oil, add grated tomato, and let it go until the spoon leaves a clean line across the pan. If the filling is wet, the peppers slump and weep on the plate. If it is thick, cooled, and mixed gently with the bonito and egg, each pepper sits neatly and tastes of itself.

If you can't find piquillos from Lodosa where you are, use good jarred roasted red peppers, not raw bell peppers. They will be softer and sweeter, so make the filling a little drier and handle them with a spoon, not fingers. Bonito del norte is best; good tuna packed in olive oil will do. No hace falta haber pisado España. Pésalo, no lo adivines, and it will come out.

My Margin beside this recipe says only: drain everything. The pepper, the tuna, the tomato. It sounds too plain to matter, until you skip it once. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.